Supreme Court of Louisiana

The Louisiana Supreme Court held that Act 748, which abolished three judgeships in the Orleans Parish criminal district court, was constitutionally enacted under Article V §32 and therefore valid.

The opinion rejects the appellate court’s decision to revisit the parties’ uncontested choice-of-law ruling without notice and holds that Texas law properly governed the tort claims.

The court reversed the court of appeal and reinstated the jury's verdict, holding that the appellate court improperly substituted its factual judgments for those of the jury when it increased the damages awards.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana granted consolidated writs to resolve a circuit split and held that mesothelioma is not a compensable occupational disease under the 1952 version of La. R.S.

The court reversed the court of appeal, reinstated Karen Calloway's conviction and three-year sentence for possessing stolen things, and held that the jury rationally could infer guilty knowledge from the circumstances of the purchase and continued possession of the vehicles.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana, per curiam, declined to reach the merits of Sandra Cordero's complaint that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal's internal operating procedures had deprived her of supervisory review conforming to La. Const. art. V, § 8(B) of her 2001 post-conviction application.

The court held that Act 312 applies to private litigation alleging environmental damage from oilfield operations, including claims brought under the Mineral Code, and that the Act applies retrospectively to this pending case.

The court affirmed the judgment sustaining Glidden's exception of prescription because the plaintiffs' claims against Glidden were pleaded under Louisiana law, appeared prescribed on their face, and were not supported by properly introduced evidence establishing a maritime limitations period.

The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the court of appeal and reinstated the district court's summary judgment dismissing the Samahas' medical malpractice claims against Dr. Rau. It held that a defendant-movant who will not bear the burden of proof at trial satisfies his initial burden under La. C.C.P. art.

The court held that the contractor's commercial general liability policy unambiguously excluded coverage for damage to concrete slabs that had to be repaired or replaced because of defective work performed by the contractor or its subcontractors.

The court held that the nullity petition adequately stated a cause of action, but nevertheless reinstated summary judgment for defendants. It concluded that the discovery request did not require defendants to disclose their later possession of the vehicle, that defendants did not engage in knowing concealment, and…

The Louisiana Supreme Court held that the UM statute, La. R.S. 22:680, requires the blank for the policy number on the insurance commissioner's prescribed rejection form to be filled in for a waiver of UM coverage to be valid; because Robert Rembert's August 16, 2002 rejection form left the policy number blank, the…

The court affirmed the defendant's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency and reliability of the evidence, jury selection, penalty-phase evidence, prosecutorial conduct, cross-examination, jury instructions, indictment, verdict forms, and completeness of the…

The court reversed the court of appeal and reinstated Ordodi's convictions and sentence for two counts of attempted armed robbery. It held that, viewing the evidence in the prosecution's favor, a rational juror could find both specific intent and an overt act tending directly toward armed robbery based on the…

The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed Donald Lee Leger, Jr.'s first-degree-murder conviction and death sentence for the December 2001 shooting of Troy Salone during the armed kidnapping of Kimberly Zimmerman.

The court held that a restaurant's report to police of suspected counterfeit currency was conditionally privileged and that the private plaintiff failed to produce evidence of knowing falsity or reckless disregard sufficient to show abuse of that privilege.

The court held that plaintiffs had a right of action but failed to state a cause of action under the election statute because that statute provided no damages remedy and injunctive relief was unavailable after the election.

The court held that the EMS defendants were entitled to summary judgment because the record showed no genuine issue of material fact and plaintiffs could not establish that the paramedics breached a duty owed to Parker.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana reinstated Pigford's conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and his eight-year hard labor sentence, vacating the Second Circuit's contrary sufficiency ruling.

The court held that installing thin metal sheeting with a backhoe was not the statutorily defined ultrahazardous activity of pile driving, so the plaintiff could not proceed under absolute liability.

The court held that the plaintiffs' medical-malpractice claims were timely because the dentist's continuing treatment, assurances that he could correct the problems, and efforts to remedy them suspended prescription under the third category of contra non valentem.

The court held that Louisiana's uninsured/underinsured motorist statute does not automatically govern a foreign-issued insurance policy merely because an accident occurred in Louisiana and involved a Louisiana resident.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed Allen Scott Williams' hit-and-run conviction and seven-year sentence at hard labor, holding the evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia to prove every element of LSA-R.S.

Reviewing de novo the lower courts' grants of summary judgment for the defendant cattle owner, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held that La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 966(C)(2)'s burden-shifting provision does not apply where the movant will bear the burden of proof at trial — here, rebutting the stock-law presumption of…

The court affirmed summary judgment dismissing the claims against SSI. It held that the evidence did not establish that Hall was acting within the course and scope of his employment because the hunting lease had never been used for business purposes and Hall was not serving SSI's interests when the accident occurred.

The court held that the evidence established, as a matter of law, that Eliud Santiago intentionally shot Annissa Jones, so the intentional-act exclusion in his homeowners policy barred coverage.

The court held that Folger rebutted the statutory presumption that the sheriff's return accurately established service of process on CT Corporation. Because that determination was factual, the court of appeal was required to apply manifest-error review and improperly substituted its judgment for the district court's…

The court held that plaintiffs' amended petition did not plead sufficient facts to state a negligence cause of action arising from Dr. Ramey's suicide because it did not establish a relationship giving defendants a duty to prevent the suicide or explain how their negligence was a substantial factor in causing it.

The court affirmed the reversal of summary judgment because the record contained genuine disputes about whether the electrical cables lay in a pedestrian pathway, whether barricades restricted access, and whether precautions were required.

The court affirmed summary judgment dismissing the legal-malpractice claim because the plaintiff could not produce evidence of loss after obtaining the claimed annual stipend through settlement.

The court held that State Farm did not violate the statutory duties governing timely payment and fair handling of insurance claims because its partial tender was reasonable in light of unresolved causation and damages questions.

The court held that the term "relative" in Allstate's uninsured-motorist policy is clear and ordinarily means a person related by blood or marriage, not a foster child. Because the foster children were residents but not relatives under the policy, they were not insureds entitled to UM coverage, and the policy did not…

The court held that the defendant's Sixth Amendment speedy-trial right was not violated by the State's dismissal and later reinstitution of the cocaine-possession charge after the trial court denied the State's continuance request.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed Antoine Tate's convictions for three counts of first degree murder and his death sentence for a 1997 ambush-style shooting during an attempted armed robbery in East Baton Rouge Parish. Applying the Jackson v.

The court reversed the court of appeal and reinstated Thompson's conviction and sentence on count one. It held that the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Thompson, that his furtive disposal of the napkin combined with the surveillance evidence established probable cause, and that the readily mobile vehicle…

The court held that res judicata barred the claims arising from Mrs. Pollingue's actions as executrix because those claims involved the same parties in the same capacities and should have been asserted in the succession proceeding.

The court held that an employer's or insurer's unjustified failure to authorize recommended medical treatment may constitute a failure to furnish workers' compensation benefits, supporting penalties and attorney fees unless the claim was reasonably controverted.

The court held that Industrial's petition adequately stated both a cause of action for unjust enrichment and a right of action to seek recovery of disputed funds retained by the defendants.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana granted the State's certiorari writ to decide whether the court of appeal erred in vacating the defendant's forty-year hard labor sentence for armed robbery as unconstitutionally excessive.

The court held that the plaintiffs' medical-malpractice petition was not prescribed on its face because it alleged filing within one year of discovering the alleged malpractice and within the applicable three-year outer limit.